Simple echocardiographic scoring in screening aortic stenosis with focused cardiac ultrasonography in the emergency department.

Abstract Background No established methodology exists for diagnosis of aortic stenosis (AS) using focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS). We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of our developed visual AS score for screening AS in an emergency department. Methods Seventy-two emergency outpatients with suspected cardiovascular disease were studied. Emergency physicians assessed the visual AS score in addition to conducting the standard FOCUS, and then the aortic valve area index (AVAI) was measured by expert sonographers in the echocardiography laboratory. AVAI values >0.85 cm2/m2, 0.6–0.85 cm2/m2, and Results Seventeen (24%) patients had moderate or severe AS. Visual AS scores assessed by emergency physicians and by expert sonographers showed excellent agreement (κ = 0.93), and a strong association was noted between the visual AS score assessed by emergency physicians and the AVAI assessed by expert sonographers (R = –0.71, p Conclusion The visual AS score is a useful AS screening tool for emergency physicians who are not expert cardiologists.